At The End Of The Day
by Ottji
Summary: "The hardest part of ending is starting again." He keeps a smile in place and a laugh ready right behind it everyday to keep his friends from worrying about him, making sure they all think things are how they used to be. But then comes the rain...


**A/N: _{Spoilers} _**I know that Yugi is very much a generally happy person, and while I really do enjoy his sentiments at the end of the seires, but I personally think that to lose someone so close to you that you share your very soul with them would hurt anyone more than they're willing to admit or even acknowledge to themselves. So this is a little one-shot (longer than my other ones!) that shows how Yugi truely misses the Pharaoh, even if he is reluctant to show it on a day-to-day basis. I wrote this in part to show how, even when presented with the most painful reminders of who we've lost, the company and help of our closest friend isn't always enough, especially when we can't find the appropriate words or actions to show just how much we're hurting.

**_{Warnings: SPOILER The events of the end of the series are mentioned, the Pharaoh's name is used. PAIRING If you squint, you could probably see some Wishshipping (Yugi x Joey), but that wasn't my intention when I wrote it. Read that into it if you want, but the only relationship here between them is that of close best friends.}_**

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_**At The End Of The Day**_

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He sat up, startled out of his sleep into a drowsy state of semi-awareness by a rumbling growl of thunder that seemed to make his rickety bed tremble. Yawning and scrubbing his hands tiredly over his face, he glanced out of the window next to his bed and sighed as he saw rain starting to patter against the smudged glass, the afternoon sky dark with clouds, more thunder grumbling in the distance. His heart starting to feel heavy, he kicked his blankets back and swung his legs out of bed, kicking aside empty chip bags and food wrappers as he stood and walked to his closet. Shoving aside unoccupied clothes hangers, he pulled out his last pair of clean pants and tugged them on over his boxers, glancing out the window again. As much as he wanted to stay inside and watch the rain from a safely dry location, he knew that-because of the rain-, he couldn't; he had someone he needed to check on.

Growling in annoyance when he discovered his lack of clean shirts, he kicked his hamper over and rooted through the resulting pile of clothes until he found a top that was reasonably unwrinkled and slipped it on, trying to smooth it with his hands before walking out, careful to keep his feet from making a sound against the beer-and-grease-stained wood floor. He slipped his shoes on as he stood by the door, then grabbed a dirty, old umbrella and darted outside quickly before his father could realize he was gone. He opened the umbrella and held it over his head, running a hand through his hair to try and make it somewhat presentable, then hurried down the sidewalk, the rain starting to come down faster and heavier, drumming hard against his umbrella, bright flashes of lightning illuminating the puddles of water starting to form in the gutters.

He arrived at his destination quickly; he knew the way so well he could walk the path in his sleep. He raised a hand and knocked quickly on the door, hoping he'd made it in time, worry and sadness eating at his heart, and waited for just a brief moment before a short old man with wild grey hair and deep purple eyes opened the door and smiled sadly up at him.

"He's not here, Joey." He reached up and put a wrinkled hand on the blond teen's shoulder. "You know where to find him." Joey nodded, resting a comforting hand on the old man's shoulder as well before bowing a little and hurrying away, practically sprinting, his worn shoes splashing through puddles and slipping on wet grass as he ran to the park, slowing to a stop only when he saw his friend standing in the middle of the sports field, motionless, his face turned to the sky. Joey walked up to him slowly, not wanting to startle him, then held the umbrella out and over his head.

"Yug, you're gonna catch a cold if you stay out like this." Yugi opened his eyes, frowning slightly as his gaze was met with the underside of the umbrella, then looked down at himself and his soaked clothes, not seeming to notice that his hair was dripping little rivers of water down across his face. Joey stepped a little closer, watching the shorter teen sadly before placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, his voice quiet. "Please, Yug… You don't have to do this every time it rains…" Yugi shivered and stared down at the grass, his bangs shadowing his eyes, keeping silent for such a long time that Joey wondered if he wouldn't give his usual response.

"He loved the rain, Joey." Yugi's voice was soft, but even so, Joey could hear the grief and loneliness in it. "We were right here…" Joey squeezed his shoulder slightly, knowing what his best friend was talking about.

The spirit of the puzzle, according to Yugi, had always been pleased by the light drizzles that swept through the city from time to time, and he took control of Yugi's body to feel the water on his skin for himself. Yugi could only reason that the spirit hadn't been exposed to much rain back when he had been alive, living in his palace in Egypt, so he didn't mind the spirit taking over to enjoy the experience for himself. But one day, while Yugi had been wandering across the park, a storm that had been threatening to break all day finally hit with a snarl of thunder and a blinding flash of lightning, pouring water down on the city in a rare, heavy rain.

The spirit had been so shocked that Yugi, chuckling in amusement, had let him take over, standing in the middle of the field to stare up at the sky, letting the rain drench his clothes, not minding the wind that roiled around him, tugging at his hair and jacket. He had stood motionless, face turned towards the grey sky, eyes closed, hands held out slightly in front of him, a small smile on his face, letting the rain run over him until Joey had found him. The teen had laughed slightly at the spirit's amazed expression when he turned to meet his gaze. The spirit turned slowly in a circle, arms outstretched at his sides, smiling slightly in an almost child-like wonderment, not seeming to care that Joey watched him from just a little bit away, hands shoved in his pockets, a crooked grin on his face. The teen didn't speak until the storm started to quiet, leaving just a dull drizzle to patter down, the sky slowly starting to clear. Then he had called out to the spirit, still laughing a little, telling him that he'd better get home and change clothes. The spirit smiled at him, giving one of the few looks of happiness that remained unhindered by other emotions. Then he turned and walked home, silently examining his dripping clothes with a contented satisfaction.

"I know, Yug…" Joey murmured, pulling himself out of his memories. "But I can see how sad this makes you, so why do you keep doin' it?" Yugi hugged himself, shivering a little.

"I don't know." It was Yugi's trembling, heart-broken whisper that finally made Joey drop the umbrella, kneeling down on the wet grass beside his best friend, pulling the smaller teen close against him, hugging him tightly.

"Its okay, Yug." His voice was fierce yet soft. "I'll help you get through this. You're not alone, you know that." Yugi whimpered softly before raising his arms from his sides and gripping the back of Joey's shirt, burying his face in the blond boy's shoulder, shaking with his tears.

"I miss him s-so much, Joey," he cried, his voice slightly muffled by Joey's shirt, stuttering and stumbling over his words as he tried to get them out through his tears. "I kn-know he's in a better place, a p-place where he belongs, b-but I m-miss him…" Joey closed his eyes at the pain Yugi's grief brought to his own heart, holding the boy close against him.

"I know…" he murmured. "I know, Yug, and I wish I could do more to help…" He trailed away into silence, not knowing what else to say, letting the smaller teen sob against his shirt until, eventually, he slowly started to calm down, hiccupping miserably, still clinging to Joey. The blond boy stayed kneeling next to his best friend, holding him as tightly as he could as if his embrace could keep the emotional agony from ripping the small teen apart, before gently scooping him up and cradling his light body in his arms. Yugi shivered again, hugging himself in a weak substitute for more comfort, closing his eyes tightly and leaning his head sideways against Joey's chest as the blond boy picked up the discarded umbrella and held it over both of them, even though they were already soaked to the skin with chilly water, made all the colder by the wind that had started to pick up.

"Yug, I'm gonna take you back to your house, alright?" Without waiting for a confirmation (he knew one wasn't coming) he quickly left the park, hurrying Yugi back home and opening the front door of the game shop without knocking, listening to his best friend's soft, exhausted whimpers as he nudged the door shut behind him with his foot. Without bothering to close it, he dropped the umbrella to the floor and hurried Yugi upstairs, nodding slightly at the old man that watched from the kitchen, whose eyes held a deep sadness as his grandson was carried away. He knew this routine was normal for rainy days, but that didn't make it any less painful to watch.

Joey stopped in the bathroom on his way to Yugi's room, snatching a towel off the wall and rubbing Yugi down as best he could in their current position before moving on and nudging the door to Yugi's room open, walking in and gently setting his friend down on the edge of his bed. He knelt down in front of him and wrapped the towel around his neck, lifting part of it to rub the boy's face and wild-yet-rain-laden hair dry.

"Yug…" he murmured softly after he'd gotten the boy's hair to stop dripping. "You gotta get outta these clothes and into some dry ones, or you're gonna get sick…" Yugi nodded slightly, still hugging himself, and slipped off the bed, walking to his chest of drawers and pulling out his pale pajamas, dropping them on the floor as he started to pull his soaking shirt and jacket off. Joey turned around to give him privacy, tossing the towel behind him for his friend to use, waiting silently until he heard Yugi walk up behind him, dressed in the fluffy, slightly-too-large PJs, then took the towel from his trembling hands and wrapped it around his head again, feeling the boy shiver with cold under his touch.

"C'mon, Yug," he said gently, after another long moment of attempting to rub the water from the boy's hair, lightly nudging his shoulder to steer him towards the bed, pulling back the sheets and watching as Yugi climbed onto the bed, curling up on his side in a small ball with his back to Joey. Joey sighed softly and pulled the covers up over Yugi's shoulders, tucking them in tightly around his small body to try and warm him up as best as he could, before running a hand gently through his best friend's cold, damp hair, wishing he could do more to help him. Then he turned and left the room quietly, shutting the door carefully behind him. He leaned back against it with a soft sigh, tipping his head back and closing his eyes, not caring that his own clothes slowly dripped a puddle into existence around his feet.

"Please, Yug…" he murmured softly, knowing the other teen wouldn't hear him, unable to get the anguished sound of Yugi's voice and the lost, haunted look in his eyes out of his mind. "Please… let me help you…" Of course, there was no answer from beyond the door, so Joey simply stood guard outside it, listening to the rain patter against the roof, each drop sounding to the blond teen like an echo of one of the many tears that had fallen from his best friend's eyes since the spirit had left, reflecting a soul-freezing agony so vast the crying sky would never be able to contain it.

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**A/N:** Again, there were hints of light Wishshipping if you squinted and tilted your head a little, but that wasn't how I intended it to be written. I don't mind or care if that's what you read into it, I'm just letting you know.

_[If you know someone who has lost a person (or even a pet) who was very close to them and they remain emotionally traumatized by the incident, urge them earnestly to go and seek some kind of professional help, but don't try to force it on them, and don't judge them for whatever their reactions may be. Their healing will start when they're ready for it. Be there for them and help them as best you can.]_

Please review.


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